Submissions Call – An Anthology of Queer Art

The Nigeria-based creative collective, called 14, is currently accepting submissions for both its August 2017 issue — which will explore, broadly, various aspects of LGBT sexuality—and its non-themed January 2018 issue—which will remember, for the second consecutive year, Nigeria’s signing, in January 2014, of a law criminalising same-sex relationships and punishing them by up to 14 years in prison.

For the August issue, the editors at 14 are looking for poems, short stories, creative nonfiction/memoir pieces, tweets, and art works that are artistically homoerotic in nature or explore queer sexuality and the politics of the body. Although 14’s focus will be tilted heavily towards work by Nigerian artists, everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or nationality, is welcome to submit work.

1. Poetry: They accept up to three poems from a single person. All poems by one person must be in one Word document, with each poem properly titled and acknowledged.

2. Fiction: They are accepting very little fiction. Fiction can be in the form of flash fiction or short story. Short stories must not exceed 3,000 words.

3. Creative non-fiction/memoir/essay etc: They strongly prefer non-fiction pieces written in language that resembles that of fiction. Which means that they do not accept pieces that read like reportage or sermons. Non-fiction pieces can range from 1000 to 3,500 words, although they may publish more, depending on the strength of the prose.

4. Art / Photography: An artist/photographer is free to send up to 3 art works or photographs. For the August anthology, they would love pieces that are connected, even though this is not compulsory. Artworks/photographs should be titled and accompanied by short notes on the pieces.

5. My Life in Tweets: For the August anthology on sexuality and queer bodies, tweet @naijaqueerart using the hashtag #QueerSexNaija. For the non-themed January anthology, tweet @naijaqueerart using #IAmQueer, but not until August 1.

All submissions—with the exception of “My Life In Tweets”—should be sent as Word documents to rainbowanniversarynigeria@gmail.com